Washington Humane Society HLE Division

It’s December 26th and I’m a day late writing my blog as yesterday was Christmas. Every year since I started at the Washington Humane Society in 1996 I have worked on Christmas Day. I often volunteered to work on Christmas day, since I have no children (not the two-legged kind anyway). Since my four legged critters don’t mind waiting until the evening to get their toys and treats I would come in Christmas morning while my co-workers were home with their two-legged family's.
I love working Christmas day. The city is quiet, often there is snow (instead this year we got rain), and the roads are almost empty. I have encountered many interesting situations while working Christmas. One year I impounded an emaciated and matted sheltie out of a broken down car crammed with stuff. The dog’s person turned out to be homeless. She had gone to her daughter’s apartment and stayed over for Christmas, but the dog (whom I named Noel) had to stay in the car. She surrendered the dog realizing she could not care for him and he went to a rescue group to find a new home. Another year a man ended up stranded with his dog on Christmas day in downtown DC, I got the call because the dog was in the car. The dog was in good shape and the man soon came back to the car. I offered to house the dog for him so he could get a hotel, but he wanted a hotel where he could stay with the dog. I gave him the information and he ended up spending Christmas night with his dog at the Marriot Wardman Park.

But most of all, I love to visit the dogs on the car lots and junkyards around the city. I have always had a soft spot for guard dogs. I discovered early on that these dogs were very easy to befriend and were rarely aggressive protectors of their lots. In fact, more often if they were not friendly they were terrified. Many of these dogs live a very bleak existence where they have little contact with people at all and especially when housed alone these pack animals live in isolation and loneliness. Some of the saddest cases are dogs rented out by guard dog companies. These dogs are often acquired by the companies through free to a good home ads in the paper. Many of the dogs are kept working despite the fact that they have aged, are arthritic, and cannot sustain their body heat so well in cold weather. These dogs are kept in pens where the workers who close the lots at night pull a string to release the dog or dogs from their pen. The only contact they have with people at all is the few minutes in the morning when a representative of the company comes to feed the dogs and put them back in their pens.

During Christmas the dogs often don’t even get this visit and are left alone over the holiday. I liked visiting these dogs on Sundays when the lots were closed to check-up on their care and give them some company so it was natural that on Christmas I began to visit them as well. I first would bring donated toys and treats that the shelter had received and then one year someone suggested we contact the Kong company. Kong’s are the perfect toys to give these dogs because when stuffed with treats it gives the dogs something to do for part of the day. The Kong company supplied the Kongs for a few years and this year Greenpets.com a local pet supply store donated 40 Kongs and collected toys and treats for the shelter animals as well.
Many times over the years I would pull up to a lot and get ready to throw the Kong over the fence when I would notice the dog had no shelter or was otherwise not being cared for properly. These dogs would get loaded up in the truck and could enjoy their Kongs at the shelter. This year the weather was mild and though a few lot owners will find notices advising them to make corrections, no dogs were impounded this year. Instead three teams consisting of myself and my wife, Officer Schindler and his girlfriend, and Officer Moyer and his girlfriend distributed all 40 Kongs to dogs on lots around the city.

Each year as I go out on Christmas I find less and less dogs guarding lots. It’s true that there are less and less lots with some former industrial areas becoming residential, but there are still a lot of lots left. It used to be that every lot had a dog, but now I think there are more lots without dogs than lots with dogs. This is encouraging. Our Humane Law Enforcement Division is very aggressive at ensuring that these remaining guard dogs are provided with what the law requires. Many lot owners have simply found it to be too much trouble to use a guard dog. Guard dogs require proper shelter, clean space, food, water, and veterinary care. It is not acceptable to chain a dog up to a car all day long and then let him roam and sleep in the cars at night. Faced with providing properly for the dog many of these owners decide to forego the dog and install other types of security. Maybe one day I will get up on Christmas and find I have no guard dogs to visit. That would be the best Christmas present ever!!